30 SPICES 



CHAP. 



Selection of a Site. In Mexico it is usual to select 

 as a suitable place for the cultivation of vanilla a portion 

 of forest, in which a clearing is made, a number of trees 

 being left at a distance of from 15 to 20 ft. apart to 

 act as supports to the vanilla plants. 



Delteil suggests a sloping hill-side covered with 

 woods, which, of course, must be suitably thinned out 

 so as to allow of sufficient light during the flowering 

 and fruiting seasons, and such land, if procurable, 

 would undoubtedly be convenient in many ways. 



Old orchards which have long been used for the 

 cultivation of vanilla cannot be recommended, as the 

 ground is liable to be infected with the vanilla disease, 

 as will be explained later. In any case, it is preferable 

 to open new ground for a fresh cultivation when 

 possible, whatever the previous crop may have been. 



In new cleared ground which is not furnished with 

 trees suitable for the support of the vines, it is necessary 

 either to plant the support trees as soon as possible, in 

 order that they may be ready to carry the vines when 

 they commence to climb, or in default of trees the system 

 of cultivation on trellises must be adopted. 



Mr. Macfarlane, in an article in the Trinidad Bulletin, 

 vol. xxxii. p. 465, is strongly in favour of selecting as a 

 site a valley with a moderate slope. He claims that 

 the steep little valleys with .which the Polynesian Islands 

 abound are the ideal home for the vanilla, and states 

 that in his own plantation in Tahiti, half a mile from 

 the sea and a couple of hundred feet above it, the pods 

 average in length over an inch more than those grown 

 close to the beach or in an undrained soil. Vanilla, he 

 says, revels in moisture, but it wants no stagnant water 

 about its roots. 



Heavy dews, more or less moisture constantly 

 descending from the hills above almost obviate the 

 necessity of rain, while the natural drainage keeps the 

 ground always sweet, no matter how heavy or how 

 prolonged the rain is. The vine also delights to send 

 its roots around and among rocks. Indeed, a rocky 



